One printing system, described in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 631,329, filed Nov. 12, 1975, by Alfred M. Nelson now abandoned, utilizes a head for recording magnetic images on the front face of a magnetic tape, apparatus for coating the images with toner, and a transfer station which transfers the toner on the tape to paper or other print medium.
In the system described therein, the tape moves continuously across the paper, while a small air gap is maintained between the tape and paper. Toner is transferred from the moving tape to the paper by a brief high voltage pulse applied between electrodes located respectively behind the tape and paper.
In utilizing the above-described system, it has been found that, although characters of detail can be printed, the characters have "fuzzy" edges which is believed due to toner particles spreading apart while traversing the gap. In some applications, it is necessary to provide very high quality characters with sharply defined edges.